Collapsible crate.



wTNEssEs "LUM 'i l 1,297,564, PatentedMar. 18,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l- Wfl,

, v 4 ATTORNEY E. D. HARRIS, la. COLLA'PSLBLE CRATE.' APPLICATlN manluLY 22. 191s.

l N V E N To R wezej/ML/ ATTORNEY 4'li.-m.Hm1z|s, 1R, y -coLLALesLBgECRATE. APPLICATION um@ JuLY 22, 1918.

. Patented Mar. 18, m19.

a SHEETS-SHEET s'.

EBENEZER D. HARRIS, JR., OF LNDER, WYMIBI'G.

ooLLAPsrBLE cnn'rn.'

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 22, 1918. Serial No. 246,155.

' To all @clio/m t may concern.'

it known that l, EBENEZER D. HARRIS, dr., citizen of the United States,at `Lander, in the county of Fremont and State of Vilyoining, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Collapsible Crates, ofwhich the following is a specihcation.

This inver tion relates to wooden receptacles, and'4 more especially-toknocledown 4crates which are cylindrical or substantially so in contour;and the object of the saine is to produce a collapsible crate or barrelcapable of being folded into small compass for storage ortransportation.

This object is 6carried out by building the ydevice in sections hingedlyconnected with each otheron upright lines and increasing in width fromone end of the series to the Either, so that the smallest section may befolded in first, then the next', and so on. rIhe object of the inventionis also carried out by making the heads of the crate or barrel .foldablese that they may be stored within the remainder of the structure.

Details of the preferred structure or form of this device are set forthin the following specification and claims, and attention is invited tothe drawings which Figure 1 is a side elevation' and Fig. 2 a rel whenits hoops are mounted on the eX- terior thereof, and

Figs. ii and el are sectional details to aniplify the attachment of thehoops and locate the `position of the hinges therein,

Fig. 5 is an elevatlon and Fig. (3 a cross section giving an edge Viewof the fastening device or hasp for connecting the extremities of eachexterior hoop,

Fig. 7 is a sectional View through the upper port-ion of the barrel,showing how the head is placed in position therein, and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional `detail of one of the fastening buttonsfor the head,

Fig. 9 is a horizontal section through a set-up barrel with the hoops onthe interior thereof, and

Fig. 10 is a plan View of the same when some of the staves are omittedand the device becomes a crate,

Fig. 11 is an elevation of a this crate,

12 is plan view of a portion of the crate with the exterior-hoop,

portion of residing herewith and in plan view of this improved barbeingalways Fig. 13 shows the device when collapsed,

- the hoop being ,on the exterior, and

Fig. 14 shows the same when the hoop is on the interior.

l may say at starting` that where l refer herein to staves, l means boththose elements which form parts of a barrel and have considerable bilge,and those straight elements which form part of a cylindrical container.

ln either case also, the staves may lie side by side `as when a closedbarrel is to be formed and as shown in Fig. 7, or the staves or slats bespaced as when anopenwork crate is'to be formed, `as best seen in Fig.10. lf the container has heads at both. ends it -becomes in effect abarrel or crate, but if only the lower, head is used then it may be@anni a en). i do not web to be limite in this particular, nor as to theproportions and materials of parts, although by prefen ence the stavesand the heads are of wood.

The barrel shown in Figs. 2 and 13 is made up of `twenty staves 1,arranged in a series of five sections of four each, and as herein shownthe staves in successive sections grow narrower and narrower so that thelength 0f the sections decreases from one end of the series to theother.v What may be called the longest section'indicated at 2l in Fig.13 is shown as made up of four staves 1 which are quite wide, althoughthere is no reason why it might not be inade up of five staves a littlenarrower or even perhaps of siX. rlhe nextnarrower section indicated vat3 13, and the next narrower section ovcrlies that numbered 2 atthewbottom. So on t0 the shortest section of the series which is at theinside and is numbered fl.. Around these sections are lstrap metal hoops5, there one at the top and another at the bottom of the barrel orcontainer, and preferably at least one intermediate hoop as shown inFig. l., sections corresponding with the width of the sections referredto, and its extremities are inturned as indicated at (i so as to formleaves of a hinge, the knuckles 7 interengaging as usual to receive thepintle pin. The leaves are notched into the staves l as indicated inFig. 4, thereby producing a butt hinge so as' to permit the staves tocome edge vto edge when the barrel structure is opened out, but to openno further. The knuckles :ire quite within the barrel as seen at 7 inFig. 7, and of course they stand at Each hoop is made 1n' at the top ofFig.

. fmetal hoop.

the meeting lines between the .several sec' tions.

At the left edge of the widest section and the right edge of thenarrowest, th@ hoops 5 are rovided with fastening devices as seen inlgs. 5 and 6. One end of the hoop has a ton e hinged thereto at 11 andprovided witii-ua roughened staple 12 and provided with a bent pin 13.The other end of the 10. hoop carries va hasp 14 hinged thereto at 15,and the hasp is provided with a slot 16, a

. notch 17, and a notch in its extremity as at 18. might be called aspring hasp 24 provided 15 with a slot 26 and with another slot 28, and

at its extermity with a hook 27. (This overlies the tongue, but isturned aside in Fig. 5 for clearness.) After the strap hoop has beendrawn up tight, the tongue is laid 2o against-the same near the freeedge of the narrowest section, then the hasp 14'is laid over the tongueand its slot 16 passes over the staple 12 while its notch 18 engages thepin 13, and finally the spring hasp 24 is laid over the tongue and itsslot 26 passes over thestaple 12 while its hook 27 engages the notch 17and its slot 28 passes over the belt pin 13. The latter holdsthe partstemporarily, but by preference a padlock or the 30 like is passedthrough the protruding portion of the staple to hold the fasteningdevice securely. However, it is quite possible thatlany other suitablemeans may be employed for connecting the ends of the strap It is quitepossible that the hoops may be on'the interior of the structure. Thisidea is ,illustrated in Fig. 9 where the numeral 5 designates the hoopmade in sections, and 6 40 its knuckles. Of course in this case thefastening device would have to be independent of the extremities of thehoop, and it must of necessitybe on the exterior of the structure. Aninterior hoop is also shown in Fig.

14. The hoop placed on the interior avoids the necessity for carrying itthrough notches in the edges of the slats as seen in Fig. 4, because theknuckles are already on the inside. '.By omitting certain of the slatsthe strucl ture becomes a crate as best seen in Figs. 10

and 11. The interior hoop 5 is shown in Fig. 10 while the exterior hoopis shown in Fig. 12. The overlapping hasps 14 and 24 are shown in Fig;11 where` the crate is set up, and the same is shown folded in Fig. 14.

As to the heads of the barrel, attention is invited to Figs. 2, 7, and8. Each head is made up of panels 30, 31,l and 32, the intermediatepanel being wider than-the others and disposed between them. Acrossthese several panels are extended the leaves 33 of hinges, which areconnected by knuckles and pintles at the points 34 so that the head mayfold as shown in Fig. 13. The extremities 0f the leaves may be continuedinto points Riveted at 19 to the tongue is whatindicated at 35 forembedding the interior of the body when set up. The intermediate andwider panelmay carry buttons as' indicated at 36 and shown in Fig. 8. Asrst suggested in this specification, there may be v heads at both endsof the structure, or if but the lowermost head is used the structurebecomes a tub. The head is shown in Figs. 2 and 7, and the latter Viewindicates in dotted lines how its outer leaf 31 is first folded 75 lonto its main leaf 30, after which the second outer leaf 32 is foldedover in a manner which will be clear. When the structure is. collapsedas indicated in Figs. 13 and 14,-

the head or heads will easily pack in the ini are left unlatched. Thebarrel is now filled to its capacity and the uppermost head put in, andfinall the uppermost latch or latches are .fastene to complete thestructure. When padlocks are fastened in the several staples, it will beimpossible to remove either head until the padlocks are irst removed.

The foregoing description and the drawings have reference togwhat may beconsidered the preferred, or approved form of my invention. Itis to beunderstood that l may' make such changes in construction and arrangementand combination of parts, materials, dimensions, et cetera, as may proveexpedient and fall within the scope of the appended claims. v

Having thus' fully described my invention, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is I 1. AThe herein describedcollapsible cylindrical. container, the body thereof being Vmade up of aseries of sections, a plurality of strap metal hoops inclosing saidsections and themselves' made in sections corresponding in lengthwith/the width of the body sec-tions, the extremities of the hoopsections being carried inward past the edges of the body sections andformed into interlocking knuckles, pintle pins through said knuckles onthe interior ofthe structure', and means for fastening the ends of thehoops which are not hinged to each other.

2. The herein described Acollapsible cylin-` drical container, the bodythereof being made up of a series of sections growing narrowerconsecutively from one end of the series to the other, and hingesconnecting the, sections edge to edge, for'the purpose set forth.

3. `The herein described collapsible cylindrical container, the bodythereof being Inadeup of a series of sections growin narrowerconsecutlvely from one end of t e se- 139 made in sections correspondingin length with the width of the body sections, hinges between all hoopsections except at one point,

and fastening mea-ns between the sectionsof thehoops 4et thatpoint. j

4. The herein described collapsible cylindrical container, lthe bodythereof*4 being made up of a series of sections growing narrowerconsecutively from one end of the4 series to the other, a plurality-ofstrap metal hoops inclosing said sections aznd themselves madev insections corresponding in length with the Width of the body. sections,the eX- tremi'ties o'f the .hoop 4sectlons being carried Ainward pastthe edges of the/body sections `and formed into interlocking knuckles,pin-4 tle vpins throgh said 'knuckles on lthe, interior 0f thestructure, and means for' fastening the ends 'of the hoops which arenothinged to each other.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature in presence of two-witnesses.

. EBENEZER D. HARRIS,y JR.. Witnesses:

.A. H. MAImmL, 1 R. E. RYAN.

Copies of this Apatent ,may be obtained forve cents each, by addressingthe Gommis`sioner of Patents,

Washington, .D. G.

